RML extends US gold discovery with 305m gold hit from surface

Our US gold and critical minerals Investment Resolution Minerals (ASX: RML | OTC: RLMLF) just announced the first 3 assays from its project in Idaho, USA.

Late last year RML declared a gold discovery with that first round of drilling hitting gold in 14 out of 14 holes.

Today’s were the first 3 holes from last year:

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Today, RML announced the first assays from this year's follow up drill programs which have shown the gold appears to extend 2km to the south of the northern discovery area.

The first three holes at Golden Gate South all hit gold from surface, extending the known gold mineralisation at least 2km south of Golden Gate North.

The standout today was a hit of over 300m ending in mineralisation:

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Inside that intercept were higher grade zones of 6.5m at 1.33 g/t gold and 17.25m at 1.19 g/t gold.

The other two holes returned 49.5m at 0.58 g/t gold and 32.6m at 0.49 g/t gold, both from surface.

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RML called the results a confirmation of "discovery status" at Golden Gate South.

(As always with drilling, the reported intervals are downhole lengths - true widths aren't known yet, and more drilling is needed to confirm them.)

This is a look at the drilling program underway, looking for extensions to the initial program:

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RML has now completed 33 holes for ~9,700m of its up to 45 hole program, with another 28 holes already logged and sitting at the lab.

So, more assays will be on their way soon with RML to release them as they are received.

The program has been extended to mid-September, with later holes also targeting a tungsten in soil anomaly at Golden Gate South.

There was a hole from the initial program that hit some tungsten and given the current tungsten macro, we are interested to see if this is more than an isolated hit.

This was released back in Feb with the remainder of the initial drilling program results:

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RML also acquired some historic tungsten production assets last year, so there is scope for there to be tungsten in the area, we covered an update on the tungsten here.

Plus RML’s project actually has a history of producing tungsten through both World Wars and the Korean War.

(Tungsten has been mined on the project from the 1950s through to the 1980s).

RML's ground sits directly next door to ~$4.5BN Perpetua Resources' Stibnite Gold Project - the project the US government has backed with billions in funding support.

RML also has FAST-41 status for its projects

Today’s announcement mostly focused on RML’s gold-tungsten discovery from last year.

Inside RML’s project area, ~2km to the southeast, it also has the Antimony Ridge prospect which holds FAST-41 status, a US federal designation for projects considered strategically important enough to get coordinated, accelerated federal permitting on a public timetable.

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Only ~50 projects have received it since the program began in 2015, and only a handful are on the ASX.

The permitting status can be viewed publicly on a public dashboard.

RML’s plan is to run a much bigger 250+ hole program over Antimony Ridge (pending approvals for permits).

Drilling at Antimony Ridge AND its current target area (Golden Gate) is when we think we will really see just how prospective RML’s ground is.

Hopefully FAST-41 status means all of that happens a lot quicker than anyone expects too.

For context, RML's neighbour Perpetua was stuck in permitting for ~8 years, then FAST-41 took it to be fully permitted within roughly a month, and it is now in construction and in May it finalised a US$2.9BN US EXIM loan.

Only ~50 projects since the program's 2015 inception have got this status, and only a handful on the ASX.

RML’s neighbour Perpetua also received Fast-41 Status for its project.

That took a project that was stuck in permitting for ~8 years into fully permitted status within roughly a month and is now in construction - and last month locked in a US$2.9BN US EXIM loan.

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We covered RML's two White House FAST-41 designations in our most recent note: RML gets a SECOND FAST-41 status from Trump administration to fast-track nationally strategic antimony and tungsten projects.

What we want to see next from RML

Here is the action plan RML had at the end of its recent presentation:

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🔄 Golden Gate (gold and tungsten) - Phase 2 drilling (NOW)

RML kicked off the 45-hole program last month, with the first 3 assays received today.

We are hoping to see the discovery get bigger - both along strike and at depth:

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Here are the milestones we are tracking:

• ✅ Phase 2 permits secured (45 holes, 13,700m)
• ✅ Phase 2 drilling commences (two diamond rigs through to mid-September)
• ✅ First assay results
• 🔄 Remaining assays
• 🔲 Maiden JORC mineral resource estimate (targeting Q1 2027)

🔄 NASDAQ listing

• ✅ SEC registration + ADR facility live via Bank of New York Mellon
• 🔄 NASDAQ listing process (~next few months as of early Feb, "imminently" as of the recent quarterly)

🔄 Antimony Ridge, the FAST-41 asset

We also want to see RML get its 250-hole drill program on its FAST-41 project.

Here are the milestones we are tracking for that project:

• ✅ FAST-41 status granted by White House
• ✅ Plan of Operations submitted to US Forest Service
• 🔄 FAST-41 accelerated federal review
• 🔲 Bulk sampling of near-surface high-grade antimony from existing workings
• 🔲 Drilling of up to 250 holes to define scale of antimony system

🔄 Tungsten stockpile + Johnson Creek Mill

RML’s project has a history of producing critical minerals of tungsten and antimony.

Old records show the asset has produced critical minerals for the United States in every single major conflict of the 20th century:

1. World War 1: Antimony production
2. World War 2: Antimony again
3. 1960s: More antimony
4. 1950s through 1980s: Tungsten

We want to see RML go back and process both the tungsten and antimony stockpiles across both of its projects.

Here are the milestones we are tracking on the processing/production side:

• ✅ Johnson Creek Mill and tungsten stockpiles acquired
• ✅ High-grade tungsten assay confirmed (1.85% WO₃)
• 🔄 Sampling and assay program to define stockpile grade/tonnage
• 🔄 Metallurgical test work and process flowsheet development
• 🔲 Mill refurbishment assessment
• 🔲 Offtake discussions with US Government and/or commercial buyers